This invention relates to golf clubs, and, more particularly, to an alignment aid for indicating when a golf club is properly aligned.
A golf club, for example, an iron type of golf club, includes a hitting face for striking a golf ball. If the golf club is to hit the golf ball accurately, the hitting face must be properly aligned with the intended line of flight of the ball. For a straight shot, i.e., a shot for which the player does not intend to impart draw or fade spin to the ball, the club face must be aligned square to the target line. The club face of an iron is square to the target line when the plane of the face is perpendicular to a vertical plane along the target line. The face of a wood type of golf club conventionally includes bulge and roll curvature, and a wood club is square to the target line when a plane which is tangent to the center of the face is perpendicular to a vertical plane along the target line.
Many golfers, particularly beginning golfers, have difficulty in determining when a golf club is properly aligned. Even accomplished golfers periodically experience problems with alignment. Because a player is standing to one side of the target line and cannot look down the target line when he addresses the golf ball, it is difficult to determine when the club face is square. If the player intends to "work" the ball by closing or opening the face of the club at address, it is difficult to determine the degree to which the club face is closed or open relative to the target line. The problem of alignment is such that many golfers cannot be sure that the club face is properly aligned without the assistance of another person who stands behind the player along the target line and observes the position of the club face.